Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone said he aims to bring the motor-racing series to Russia by 2012 and New York by 2013, in a move to have up to 20 events in the Grand Prix calendar.

Formula One will most likely be held in the Russian capital of Moscow or in Sochi, site of the 2014 Winter Olympics, while at least three places have been identified for a circuit outside Manhattan, Ecclestone said.

Formula One is quite popular in Russia (my brother is huge fan, and doen’t miss a single qualification or a race), and Russian fans have had hopes for Moscow to get onto the F1 series calendar for years. The location for the stadium outside of the city has been selected, and, if I’m not mistaken, even the construction has been started. However, no finalized plans and dates were ever stated, and I don’t know where this project is. There have been talks about F1 and Moscow’s government not agreeing on how to split the profits.

This season, for the first time ever, a Russian pilot, Vitaliy Petrov, is participating in Formula One, as one of the Renault drivers. Btw, if you are flying Aeroflot this April, check out his interview in their onboard magazine.

Formula One has already been to Sochi, last year with exibitory race. It was Renault who brought it’s cars to Sochi. Here are some pictures from that event.